Philippine-American War, 1899-1902
by Arnaldo Dumindin
http://www.filipinoamericanwar.com/
Background: The Philippine Revolution and the Spanish-American War
The Philippines (LEFT, 1898 map) was a colony of Spain from 1571 to 1898. Spanish rule came to an end as a result of the Philippine Revolution and US involvement with Spain's other major colony, Cuba.
The Philippine archipelago, with a total land area of 300,000 sq km (115,831 sq mi), comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, located close to the present-day countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau and the island of Taiwan.
The capital, Manila, is 6,977 miles (11,228 km) distant --- "as the crow flies" --- across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco, California, U.S.A. The two cities are separated by 6,061 nautical miles of water.
Luzon and Mindanao are the two largest islands, anchoring the archipelago in the north and south. Luzon has an area of 104,700 sq km (40,400 sq mi) and Mindanao has an area of 94,630 sq km (36,540 sq mi). Together, they account for 66% of the country's total landmass.
Only nine other islands have an area of more than 2,600 sq km (1,000 sq mi) each: Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol and Masbate.
More than 170 dialects are spoken in the archipelago, almost all of them belonging to the Borneo-Philippines group of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
Twelve major dialects – Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, Pangasinense; Southern Bicol, Kiniray-a, Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug (the last three in Muslim areas of Southern Philippines) – make up about 90% of the population.
The population in 1898 was about 9 million.
More at: http://www.filipinoamericanwar.com/ … [Read more...]

How Filipino WWII Soldiers Were Written Out of History
This post was written by Rosie Cima. You can follow her on Twitter here.
Original Link: https://priceonomics.com/how-filipino-soldiers-were-written-out-of-the/
American and Filipino officers in the USAFFE in World War II (U.S. Army)
From 1941-1944, hundreds of thousands of Filipino soldiers fought and died under the command of American generals against the Japanese in the Philippines. This struggle included one of the worst military defeats in U.S. history, and a grisly period of imprisonment and occupation.
In exchange for their service in the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE), Filipino soldiers were promised American citizenship and full veterans benefits. But Congress and President Truman reneged this offer in 1946. Only four thousand Filipino war veterans, out of an estimated 200,000 who survived the war, were able to get citizenship before the retraction was signed into law.
You didn’t sleep through this section of US History. It was never taught. The role of Filipino soldiers in WWII has largely been erased from the history books.
Building a Philippine Army
In 1941, the United States suspected war with Japan was imminent. Whether they ‘knew’ Japan would strike Pearl Harbor is a matter of debate, but Japan had expanded its assaults to American allies. The Imperial Japanese objective was domination of all of Asia, and, having conquered Korea, parts of Russia, China and Taiwan, many of the countries that remained were colonial holdings of Western nations. According to an article in Salon:
“[Roosevelt’s] administration had adopted the objective of defeating all the Axis powers and had begun the military and the economic planning to achieve it. He had shared that objective publicly with the American people, a large majority of whom now accepted war as inevitable.”
The Philippines was a large American holding in the South Pacific. And what’s more, it was vulnerable.
The Philippine army circa 1936 (Wikipedia)
At the start of 1941, the Philippines had a meager army. It was a commonwealth of the United States from 1935 to 1946, and the US government was stewarding the archipelago's transition from a territory of the United States into an independent nation. Part of that transition should have involved amassing a Filipino military -- to replace the U.S. forces that had guarded the Philippines when it was a territory. But development of such a force was slow. Had the Japanese attacked the Philippines in January 1941, eleven months before Pearl Harbor, they would have encountered a few thousand American troops and a few thousand Filipinos.
Which is why, in the summer of 1941, following the 1940 Japanese capture of French Indochina, the U.S. started recruiting a Philippine defense force like crazy.
For the first few decades of the 20th century, because the U.S. “owned” the Philippines, Filipinos were considered U.S. “nationals.” U.S. nationals can work and reside in the U.S. without restriction, carry a U.S. passport, and apply for citizenship under the same rules as other resident foreigners. As a result, in 1940, there were about 45,000 Filipinos in the United States, most of them service-aged, male farm and factory laborers.
Military service was then, as it is now, one of the shorter and more reliable paths for an alien to achieve citizenship. From 1941 to the end of the war, the government streamlined the hell out of that path. Filipino men were recruited into the U.S. military and given citizenship in mass naturalization ceremonies. Nearly one third of draft-age Filipinos in the continental U.S. volunteered for the Army.
“When I reported to Los Angeles,” one Filipino-American WWII veteran is quoted in the book Filipino American Lives, “they swore me in as a U.S. citizen. I did not even have to file an application.”
But the U.S. also recruited different branches of Philippine defenders from within the Philippines. Many of these individuals, and the Filipino immigrants who enlisted in the continental U.S., were motivated by a desire to protect the Philippines, their home, from an attack by the Imperial Japanese.
Filipino soldiers in basic training (US Army)
But the United States government sweetened the deal: President Roosevelt promised U.S. citizenship and full veterans benefits to Filipinos who took up arms against the Japanese.
By late November, the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) was formed as the merger of the Philippine Commonwealth army and the US Armed Forces stationed in the Philippines. General Douglas MacArthur was made commander of the USAFFE. Ultimately, the allied forces in the Philippine campaign from 1941-1942 consisted of 120,000 Filipino troops and 30,000 American troops, some of whom were Filipino Americans.
8 Hours After Pearl Harbor
The USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor … [Read more...]

U.S. Philippine Cavalry Scouts at the 2017 Pasadena Rose Parade. California, USA.
On Bataan, a 26th Cavalry Troop, consisting mostly of Filipino Troopers and led by Lt. Edwin Ramsey performed the last U.S. Cavalry horse mounted charge to engage an enemy in warfare. This charge occurred at the town of Morong, Bataan on January 16, 1942.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVCZrg-xQxo&feature=share
26th Cavalry Regiment (PS)
Link to original site: http://www.philippine-scouts.org/the-scouts/regiments-units-bases/26th-cavalry-regiment-ps.html
Original coat-of-arms for the 26th Cavalry (PS), courtesy of First Sergeant
Charles Aresta (USA Ret.). The red and white mantling signifies that the
unit was originally formed from Field Artillery personnel.
History
The 26th Cavalry was formed in 1922, at Fort Stotsenburg, Pampanga Philippines from elements of the 25th Field Artillery Regiment and the 43d Infantry Regiment (PS). The regiment was based there, with the exception of Troop F (which was based at Nichols Field). In addition to horse mounted troops, the regiment had an HQ Troop, a Machine Gun Troop, a platoon of six Indiana White M1 Scout Cars and trucks for transporting service elements.
Scout Cars of the 26th Cavalry (PS), 1937.
On November 30th 1941, the Regiment had 787 Filipino Enlisted Men and 55 American Officers. For the rosters of the 26th Cavalry Regt., please click here.
Captain John Wheeler leading the Machine Gun Troop of the 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS)
prior to the Japanese invasion. From the cover of the March/April 1943 issue of
"The Cavalry Journal".
After the Japanese invasion on December 8, 1941, the 26th participated in the Allied withdrawal to the Bataan Peninsula. In doing so, the unit conducted a classic delaying action that allowed other, less mobile, units to safely withdraw to the peninsula. During the delaying action the 26th provided the "stoutest and only" serious opposition of the withdrawal. In the initial landings of the Japanese Imperial Army invasion, the Regiment alone delayed the advance of four enemy infantry regiments for six hours at Damortis, a town in the Lingayen Gulf, and on December 24 repulsed a tank assault at the town of Binalonan, Pangasinan. However, the resistance was not without cost, as by the end of that day, the Regiment had been reduced down to 450 men.
Colorized photo of Capt. John Wheeler's troopers.
Photo appeared in Life Magazine in 1941. Colorized by Sean Conejos.
Following these events, the Regiment was pulled off the line and brought back up to a strength of 657 men, who in January 1942 held open the roadways to the Bataan Peninsula allowing other units to prepare for their stand there.
26th Cavalrymen pass an M3 tank, December 1941.
On Bataan, a 26th Cavalry Troop, consisting mostly of Filipino Troopers and led by Lt. Edwin Ramsey performed the last U.S. Cavalry horse mounted charge to engage an enemy in warfare. This charge occurred at the town of Morong, Bataan on January 16, 1942.
Lt. Edwin Ramsey on Brynn Awryn prior to the beginning of WWII.
He led the last wartime U.S. Cavalry charge.
Col. Edwin Ramsey recounts how the Last Cavalry Charge came about.
Following this, due to a shortage of food, their mounts were butchered and the regiment was converted into two squadrons, one a motorized rifle squadron, the other a mechanized squadron utilizing the remaining scout cars and Bren carriers. Other actions of the 26th Cavalry are; Following the delaying action down the central Luzon plain, 26th Cavalry Troop C was cut off from the rest of the Regiment, having been ordered into Northern Luzon in an attempt to defend Baguio by Major General Wainwright in late December 1941. In January 1942, the unit, with assistance from 71st Infantry and elements of the 11th Infantry raided Tuguegarao Airfield, destroying several planes and causing enemy casualties.
Eventually the unit was supplemented by other soldiers and guerrillas, and remained an effective fighting force well into 1943. The remnants of Troop C would later be integrated into the United States Army Forces in the Philippines-Northern Luzon. Other guerrilla organizations were led by Officers of the regiment like Lt. Edwin Ramsey who ignored the surrender orders (and other Filipino enlisted men) who escaped from Bataan to form a substantial guerrilla resistance force against the Japanese Imperial Army.
Rudy Cabigas, a retired San Jose Fire Department Captain,
representing a Filipino trooper of the legendary 26th Cavalry,
Philippine Scouts. His father and uncle served with the 26th.
… [Read more...]

Memorare Manila 1945 Monument
Courtesy of: http://malacanang.gov.ph/75085-briefer-memorare-manila-1945-monument/
The Memorare – Manila 1945 Monument commemorates the lives lost during the battle for the liberation of Manila, waged by Filipino and American forces against Imperial Japanese troops from February 3, 1945, to March 3, 1945.
The monument was unveiled on February 18, 1995. It stands at the center of Intramuros, in Plaza de Sta. Isabel at the corner of General Luna and Anda Streets. It was constructed mainly through the efforts of the Memorare – Manila 1945 Foundation Inc., a private, non-profit organization founded by the civilian survivors of the Battle of Manila and their descendants.
Sculpted by Peter de Guzman, the monument’s main feature is the figure of a hooded woman slumped on the ground in great despair for the lifeless child she cradles in her arms. Six suffering figures surround her, a glimpse of the great despair brought about by the gruesome massacres that were perpetrated all over the city inflicted by Imperial Japanese soldiers on civilians during the liberation of the city.
The inscription on the base was penned by Nick Joaquin, National Artist for Literature:
This memorial is dedicated to all those innocent victims of war, many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or never even knew a grave at all, their bodies having been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins.
Let this monument be a gravestone for each and every one of the over 100,000 men, women, children and infants killed in Manila during its battle of liberation, Feb. 3 to March 3, 1945. We have never forgotten them. Nor shall we ever forget.
May they rest in peace as part now of the sacred ground of this city: The Manila of our affection. February 18, 1995.” … [Read more...]

The Philippine-American War,1899–1902
from: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war
After its defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain ceded its longstanding colony of the Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. On February 4, 1899, just two days before the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, fighting broke out between American forces and Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo who sought independence rather than a change in colonial rulers. The ensuing Philippine-American War lasted three years and resulted in the death of over 4,200 American and over 20,000 Filipino combatants. As many as 200,000 Filipino civilians died from violence, famine, and disease.
“Battle of Manila Bay”
The decision by U.S. policymakers to annex the Philippines was not without domestic controversy. Americans who advocated annexation evinced a variety of motivations: desire for commercial opportunities in Asia, concern that the Filipinos were incapable of self-rule, and fear that if the United States did not take control of the islands, another power (such as Germany or Japan) might do so. Meanwhile, American opposition to U.S. colonial rule of the Philippines came in many forms, ranging from those who thought it morally wrong for the United States to be engaged in colonialism, to those who feared that annexation might eventually permit the non-white Filipinos to have a role in American national government. Others were wholly unconcerned about the moral or racial implications of imperialism and sought only to oppose the policies of PresidentWilliam McKinley’s administration.
After the Spanish-American War, while the American public and politicians debated the annexation question, Filipino revolutionaries under Aguinaldo seized control of most of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and proclaimed the establishment of the independent Philippine Republic. When it became clear that U.S. forces were intent on imposing American colonial control over the islands, the early clashes between the two sides in 1899 swelled into an all-out war. Americans tended to refer to the ensuing conflict as an “insurrection” rather than acknowledge the Filipinos’ contention that they were fighting to ward off a foreign invader.
Emilio Aguinaldo
There were two phases to the Philippine-American War. The first phase, from February to November of 1899, was dominated by Aguinaldo’s ill-fated attempts to fight a conventional war against the better-trained and equipped American troops. The second phase was marked by the Filipinos’ shift to guerrilla-style warfare. It began in November of 1899, lasted through the capture of Aguinaldo in 1901 and into the spring of 1902, by which time most organized Filipino resistance had dissipated. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed a general amnesty and declared the conflict over on July 4, 1902, although minor uprisings and insurrections against American rule periodically occurred in the years that followed.
The United States entered the conflict with undeniable military advantages that included a trained fighting force, a steady supply of military equipment, and control of the archipelago’s waterways. Meanwhile, the Filipino forces were hampered by their inability to gain any kind of outside support for their cause, chronic shortages of weapons and ammunition, and complications produced by the Philippines’ geographic complexity. Under these conditions, Aguinaldo’s attempt to fight a conventional war in the first few months of the conflict proved to be a fatal mistake; the Filipino Army suffered severe losses in men and material before switching to the guerrilla tactics that might have been more effective if employed from the beginning of the conflict.
President Theodore Roosevelt
The war was brutal on both sides. U.S. forces at times burned villages, implemented civilian reconcentration policies, and employed torture on suspected guerrillas, while Filipino fighters also tortured captured soldiers and terrorized civilians who cooperated with American forces. Many civilians died during the conflict as a result of the fighting, cholera and malaria epidemics, and food shortages caused by several agricultural catastrophes.
Even as the fighting went on, the colonial government that the United States established in the Philippines in 1900 under future President William Howard Taft launched a pacification campaign that became known as the “policy of attraction.” Designed to win over key elites and other Filipinos who did not embrace Aguinaldo’s plans for the Philippines, this policy permitted a significant degree of self-government, introduced social reforms, and implemented plans for economic development. Over time, this program gained important Filipino adherents and undermined the revolutionaries’ popular appeal, which significantly aided the United States’ military effort to win the war.
In 1907, the … [Read more...]

U.S. WAR CRIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES
Courtesy of: http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/war.crimes/US/U.S.Philippines.htm .
The U.S. occupation of the Philippine Islands came about as a result of military operations against the Spanish Empire during the Spanish-American war of 1898-99. The seizure of the Philippines by the United States, however, was not unplanned. American eyes had been set on the Philippines since before the outbreak of war. To many prominent Americans, establishing a colony in the Philippines was a logical extension of the nation's "manifest destiny" to play a leading role on the world stage. An expanded American presence in Asia was also thought to have significant commercial advantages for the nation, since American companies could then participate directly in large Asian markets.
For all the alleged advantages to possessing the Philippines, no thought was given to whether or not native Filipinos would welcome American as opposed to Spanish rule. The Filipinos were of course never informed of American intentions to stay in the Philippines. This turned out to be a serious error. By 1898 Filipinos had already shed a considerable amount of blood since rising up in 1896 to free themselves from Spanish domination. They would not take kindly to a change in colonial administration from Spain to the United States.
The First Philippine Republic and the End of Spanish Rule
On May 1, 1898, an American fleet under Dewey sailed into Manila harbor and quickly destroyed a small force of Spanish ships anchored there. Plans for Dewey to commence offensive operations against the Spanish in the Philippines had originated several months before, in February, when Assistant Secretary for the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, had cabled Dewey to say "Your duty will be to see that the Spanish squadron does not leave the Asiatic coast ... start offensive operations in Philippine Islands."[1]
Because a considerable number of Spanish troops remained stationed throughout the Philippines, including a large force in Manila itself, American diplomats urged resistance leader Emilio Aguinaldo to return to the Philippines from exile in Hong Kong. Before journeying to his homeland, Aguinaldo, who was overjoyed at the American declaration of war on Spain, cabled resistance members the following message, which clearly expresses his belief that the Americans had come to liberate his people:
"Divine Providence is about to place independence within our reach. The Americans, not from mercenary motives, but for the sake of humanity and the lamentations of so many persecuted people have considered it opportune to extend their protecting mantle to our beloved country. ... At the present moment an American squadron is preparing to sail to the Philippines. The Americans will attack by sea and prevent any re-enforcements coming from Spain. ... We insurgents must attack by land. ... There where you see the American flag flying, assemble in number; they are our redeemers!"[2]
Aguinaldo sent another message several days later expressing the same confidence in American altruism:
"Filipinos, the great nation, North America, cradle of liberty and friendly on that account to the liberty of our people ... has come to manifest a protection ... which is disinterested towards us, considering us with sufficient civilization to govern by ourselves this our unhappy land."[3]
Energized by the seemingly fortunate turn of events, the Filipinos immediately went on the offensive. Within weeks Aguinaldo's insurgents had pushed the Spanish back to Manila. Fighting would continue for another two months, until American forces arrived in enough numbers to complete the defeat of Spanish troops holed up in Manila. Aguinaldo and his men were ecstatic with their victory and on June 12, 1898 they proclaimed Filipino independence. The First Philippine Republic had been founded.
What the Americans Promised the Filipinos
The declaration of a Philippine Republic should not have come as a shock to the Americans. No American military commander or politician had formally promised the Filipinos independence after the end of fighting, but this is not the impression that motivated Emilio Aguinaldo and his men. Statements made by several of the participants in these events suggest that by supporting the armed resistance of Filipinos to the Spanish, the United States was de facto guaranteeing the Filipinos their independence. For example, American Consul Wildman in Hong Kong wrote at the time, "the United States undertook this war [against Spain] for the sole purpose of relieving the Cubans from the cruelties under which they were suffering and not for the love of conquests or the hope of gain. They are actuated by precisely the same feelings for the Filipinos."[4] Admiral Dewey emphasized that during the liberation of the islands the Filipinos had cooperated directly … [Read more...]

USAFFE by Poweleit, Alvin C., M.D., Major, U.S. Army Medical Corps (Ret.) (Author)
USAFFE, the loyal Americans and faithful Filipinos: A saga of atrocities perpetrated during the fall of the Philippines, the Bataan Death March, and Japanese imprisonment and survival Hardcover – 1975
Title
USAFFE, the loyal Americans and faithful Filipinos : a saga of atrocities perpetrated during the fall of the Philippines, the Bataan Death March, and Japanese imprisonment and survival / by Alvin C. Poweleit.
Subject
Poweleit, Alvin C.
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Philippines.
World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Japanese.
World War, 1939-1945--Health aspects.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.
Description
Wartime diary of the American Surgeon of the Provisional Tank Group, from arrival in the Philippines through the battles for the defense of the Philippines, the Death March, prisoner of war experiences and liberation.
Poweleit was a reserve officer called to active duty in 1940, and attached to the 192nd Tank Battalion; he arrived in the Philippines less than a month before the war started. He was with the tank men from the start of the war through the surrender of Bataan; imprisoned in Camp O’Donnell, Cabanatuan and other camps, and then moved to Taiwan in September 1944, where he stayed till the end of the war.
The book is not a verbatim publication of his diary proper, but has added information taken from post-war sources. He also recounts the other hell ships and the Palawan Massacre.
Creator
Poweleit, Alvin C.
Publisher
[s.l.] : Poweleit, c1975
Date
1975
Format
24 x 16 cm.
Type
Hardbound
Call Number
D 767.4 .P68 1975
Accession Number
13978
Pagination
vii, 182 p.
Illustration
ill., maps
Keywords
Poweleit, Alvin C.; World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Philippines.; World War, 1939-1945--Health aspects.; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Japanese.
Collection
Diaries
Citation
Poweleit, Alvin C., “USAFFE, the loyal Americans and faithful Filipinos : a saga of atrocities perpetrated during the fall of the Philippines, the Bataan Death March, and Japanese imprisonment and survival / by Alvin C. Poweleit.,” FHL - Roderick Hall Collection, accessed January 30, 2016, http://rodhall.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/items/show/933.
-----
United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) was a military formation of the United States Army active from 1941 to 1946. The new command's headquarters was created on July 26, 1941, at No. 1, Calle Victoria, Manila, Luzon, the Philippines, with General Douglas MacArthur as commander. The Chief of Staff was Brigadier General Richard K. Sutherland and the Deputy Chief of Staff was Lieutenant ColonelRichard J. Marshall. The core of this command (including MacArthur, Marshall, and Sutherland) was drawn from the Office of the Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government.
… [Read more...]

Books on America and the Moros by Robert A. Fulton
http://www.morolandhistory.com/Books_page/Book_Page.htm
Released January 15, 2012
The Battle of Bud Dajo took place over three days, March 5-8, 1906. It pitted the U.S. Army. U.S. Navy, and the Philippine Constabulary against 800-1,000 dissident Muslims who had fortified the top of a rugged, 2,175 feet high dormant volcano on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippine Islands. Although beginning as a genuine military contest, it ended as a tragic and terrible, one-sided massacre, with no more than a small and pitiful handful of the Muslims left alive.
Although lesser known. It ranks beside such infamous names as "Sand Creek" (1864), "Wounded Knee"(1890), and "My Lai" (1968) as one of the darkest, bloodiest, and most controversial episodes in America's long and troubled history of deadly encounters with indigenous peoples.
More than just a straightforward account of an epic fight on a spectacular mountain, it is also the story of a second and equally vicious donnybrook within the nations' press and on the floor of Congress to comprehend what had actually occurred on that remote field of battle and why. At stake were the careers of one the most well known soldiers of the early 20th Century, General Leonard Wood, former commanding officer of the famed Spanish-American War cavalry regiment, the Rough Riders. Also risk was a future President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Howard Taft, as well as the reputation of one of the country's most popular Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt.
But there is also a mystery here. The real story of what happened would remain buried for more than another century. Why? Was there a deliberate, and successful, cover up? If the real facts had come to light sooner, would it have mattered? Could it have impacted the course of American history? Is there a lesson to take away here, or at least a warning?
HONOR FOR THE FLAG is based on path finding research into the original files, which was first published in 2007 my book MOROLAND; but it is much broader in scope and not only narrates a reliable account of the battle itself but how it rapidly evolved into a contentious and divisive debate over the moral basis of American intervention in foreign lands.
200 pages, including 72 photographs and illustrations.
To see reviews and purchase, click on the web links below:
Moroland is the lost history of the once-famed struggle between the United States Army and the "wild" Moros, the Muslims of the southern Philippine islands. Lasting over two decades, it was this country's first sustained encounter with a volatile mixture of nation building, insurgency, counterinsurgency, and militant Islamism.
An unanticipated byproduct of the Spanish-American War, the task of subduing and then "civilizing" the "Land of the Moros" was delegated to the U.S. Army. Working through the traditional ruling hierarchy and respecting an ancient system of laws based on the Qur'an, Moro Province became an autonomous, military-governed Islamic colony within a much larger, overwhelmingly Christian territory, the Philippine Islands.
An initially successful occupation, it transitioned to a grand experiment: an audacious plan to transform and remake Moro society, values, and culture in an American image; placing the Moros on an uncertain and ill-defined path towards inclusion in an eventual Western-style democracy. But the Moros reacted with obstinate and unyielding resistance to what they perceived as a deliberate attack on the religion of Islam and a way of life ordained by God. This ignited a constant stream of battles and expeditions known in U.S. Army history as the Moro Campaigns and lasting more than a decade. In violence and ferocity they may have equaled, if not surpassed, the more famous late-19th Century Indian Wars of the Great Plains. It also led to the creation of the fabled Moro Constabulary, small contingents of native troops led by American, European, and Filipino officers.
The backdrop is a bustling, raucous, newly-prosperous nation finding its way as a world and imperial power. But with this new-found status came a near-religious belief that the active spread of America's institutions, values, and form of government, even when achieved through coercion or force, would create a better world. A subtext is a deep and bitter rivalry between two of its most prominent players, Captain John J. Pershing and General Leonard Wood, born only one month apart, each championing markedly opposed military philosophies. Eventually they would compete to lead one-million American "doughboys" into the cauldron of the world's first Great War.
Few Americans are aware that a century later the U.S. military has quietly returned to Moroland, to battle "radical Islamist terrorism"; … [Read more...]

Liberation That Destroyed: The End of Manila, Queen of the Pacific
By HECHO AYER: https://hechoayer.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/liberation-that-destroyed-the-end-of-manila-queen-of-the-pacific/
An Insult to Religious Filipinos' Sensibilities: Nuns Being Rounded Up by Japanese Soldiers (http://img51.imageshack.us/i/image005wn.jpg/)
With no applause, but with artillery fire, American bombs, Japanese lust and death, Manila, Queen of the Pacific, made her inglorious bow to the world in February 1945.
Iconic Photo of an American Tank Forcing Its Entry Into For Santiago, Once Impenetrable (AHC)
In a single month, what was built for centuries to being Asia’s first and genuine melting pot was destroyed and forever erased from the world. The capital city of the Philippines became the stage for not only bodily massacre but also, spiritual, cultural, artistic and national eradication.
It was in 9 January 1945 when Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger arrived in Lingayen Gulf, Pangasinan in what would become a United States campaign to recapture the Philippines from Japanese claws. By the end of January, much progress has been made by the Americans in reaching the outskirts of Manila namely that of Tagaytay and Nasugbu. They began to make their way up north to Manila.
American Tank Inspects Intramuros' Ruins. Notice the Walls of Sto. Domingo (AHC)
Backside of Once Marvelous Sto. Domingo Church (AHC)
The Manila Post Office (Where my Great Grandfather was Post Master General Before the War) (AHC)
On the other hand, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese mission to the Philippines, General Yamashita, has moved his headquarters to Baguio. He gave specific orders to make Manila an “Open City” and to simply destroy bridges and other critical infrastructures that may aid the Americans. He had no intention, whatsoever, of keeping Manila.
However, Rear Admiral Iwabuchi Sanji disobeyed the orders of his superior and launched a bloody and diabolical campaign to “defend” Manila to the end. With his motley group of Japanese soldiers, a month of suffering and sheer darkness engulfed the city of Manila, victimizing its citizens, its art, its culture, its heritage, its very soul.
The Intact Facade of San Francisco Could Have Still Been Restored (AHC)
When the Americans were making much advances into the city, the Japanese blew up Manila’s very historic and beautiful bridges, thus virtually dividing Manila into two: the Northern and Southern banks. In the eastern suburbs outside Manila, like Cubao, Kamuning and San Juan, the resistance against the Americans was minimal. My own lola and her two sisters and their mama moved to Cubao during this time precisely because they had a bad feeling of what would happen to Manila during those tense days. All girls, they were luckily spared. They were said to have only witnessed one violent act: the neighbor peeked while the Japanese were making the rounds when suddenly, he was shot in the head by a Jap who saw him.
Survivors of Intramuros Try to Escape The Place By Crossing the Pasig (AHC)
The National Assembly (AHC)
Likewise, although not without giving a good fight, the Japanese were unable to hold on to the northern banks of the Pasig. The areas here were the districts of Binondo, Sta. Cruz, Quiapo, etc.
In 3 February 1945, the US infantry, led by Atenean Manuel Colayco, managed to reach the Allied Internment camp that was actually the University of Santo Tomas’ sprawling campus. Its main building became the prison for around five thousand foreigners and Filipinos. The interment camp was captured the following day.
UST Concentration Camp's Liberation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Santo_Tomas_Internment_Camp_Liberation_.jpg)
The situation, however, at the southern banks of the Pasig was far different. What is considered Manila’s most heavily concentrated area of rich architectural masterpieces, from ancient Spanish intramuros, to the American’s Neo-Classical corridor, as well as genteel Ermita, this area of Manila became the hiding place of the losing Japanese soldiers who became insanely cruel, killing people with no mercy.
The Navy Club on Fire, While Letran Being Heavily Attacked by the Americans Since There Were Japanese Hiding Inside (AHC)
According to the eminent Dr. Fernando N. Zialcita, my own professor in cultural heritage studies, the remaining soldiers in Manila, a good 10,000 marines, proceeded what would become infamously known as the “Manila Massacre”. Every morning, the soldiers would get heavily drunk before the roamed the city to kill civilians found in the streets. They began to set beautiful Filipino homes on fire (Ermita, Singalong and Malate became the worst hit residential areas), raid schools, kill orphans and even the mentally challenged.
Legislative Building Ruins (AHC)
Refuge in a Church (from LIFE Magazine)
Suddenly, Manila … [Read more...]

The Americans destroyed Manila in 1945
By Ricardo C. Morales
Courtesy of: http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/82850-americans-destroyed-manila-1945
If the carnage of Manila in 1945 did not happen, we would have had a very different Philippines today. Our momentum ran out and the other nations in Asia eventually surpassed it.
DESTROYED. Photo shows the destruction at Intramuros after the Battle of Manila. Photo from the US Army/Wikimedia Commons
MANILA, Philippines – It was mainly the United States' casualty-avoidance policy that resulted in unrestrained and indiscriminate application of overwhelming firepower by forces under MacArthur, which caused the utter devastation of Manila and the loss of 100,000 Filipino lives in 1945.
The Japanese forces, certainly capable of unequalled brutality and barbarism themselves, also contributed to the outcome, but could not have inflicted the same level of deaths and destruction. This cataclysmic event was a turning point in the development of Filipino society and its effects are more evident today, 70 years after.
The figure of 100,000 civilian deaths is a conservative estimate. Some sources cite as high as 240,000. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki onlykilled 70,000 and 40,000, respectively. The firebombing of Dresden killed 25,000. Only the the rape of Nanking in 1937, where Japanese troops murdered 300,000 civilians, eclipses the destruction of Manila which some historians call one of the tragedies of WW2.
The immediate U S objectives in Luzon in early 1945 was to rescue the POWs in Cabanatuan and the internees at the University of Santo Tomas.
Once these were achieved, the Americans turned their attention to Manila and this time, it appeared, avoiding civilian casualties was no longer a concern. In the liberation of the internees, the Japanese custodial force of 150 were allowed to leave under a flag of truce. That was the only time the Americans attempted to negotiate with the enemy.
Not that it would have been easy. The city of one million inhabitants was defended by a fanatical, death-seeking naval officer who had his previous command torpedoed under him in the Guadalcanal campaign. He was, quite literally, dying for payback.
WEAPON. The US Army 240mm howitzer was used in action during the battle of Manila. Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Armando Ang, in The Brutal Holocaust writes: "According to reliable evidence gathered from prisoners of war, military personnel, Philippine officials and civilians, and Japanese documents, the rape of Manila was not a random act of melee, mayhem and wanton destruction but an act of coldly planned atrocities by the Japanese high command from Tokyo."
Even if this were true, it would have been physically impossible to carry out. The Japanese forces in Manila numbered 17,000. Approaching the city from north and south were 35,000 US troops supported by a few thousand Filipino guerillas. Knowing the impending battle they faced, the Japanese would have been intent on saving precious ammunition.
Relentless attack
Manual methods of execution like beheading, bayonetting and mass incineration were slow and inefficient. The battle took a month – from February 3 to March 3, 1945. Unlike in Nanking (which took place over 6 weeks) where the 50,000 Japanese troops had complete control of the city, in Manila they were under relentless attack by U S troops and Filipino guerillas.
Parsons (2008) writes that “The Yanks were using portable howitzers, whereas the Japanese were using bigger guns from all land-based compass points around the city.” This is not accurate. The Americans had bigger guns and more of it. Portable, yes, but also much bigger. They trundled up their behemoth 240 mm howitzers, “the most powerful weapon deployed by US field artillery units during World War II,” versus the heaviest Japanese field piece ever deployed, the 150 mm Type 38, a 1905 design manufactured under license from Krupp. The latter were used in 1942 in the Bataan campaign but there is no record of their use in Manila.
Furthermore, to deploy artillery pieces from “all points around the city” pointing inwards would render these guns vulnerable to piece-meal attacks by guerillas or US forces and such an artillery deployment would have been difficult to direct and control.
One statistic that blunts the argument of Japanese responsibility is the low number of US deaths.
In the Battle of Manila, “.. which culminated in a terrible bloodbath and total devastation of the city… was the scene of the worst urban fighting in the Pacific theater,” the Americans suffered their lowest casualty ratio ever – 1,010 killed out of a total force of 35,000, or less than 3%. Parsons argues further that the high casualty figures could have been part of a deliberate pre-negotiation ploy by the Japanese to discourage an American invasion of Japan, “that … [Read more...]

1945: The Rape of Manila By: Joan Orendain, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Courtesy of: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/99054/february-1945-the-rape-of-manila
DEAD bodies could not be buried as relatives fled the carnage. Photo courtesy of Albert Montilla
To this day, much is heard of the Rape of Nanking when the rampaging Japanese Imperial Army killed 300,000 from 1937 to 1938, and raped 20,000 women in that Chinese capital.
Pitifully few, though, in the Philippines and even fewer elsewhere, know that in Manila, in February 1945, World War II at its agonizing climax brought forth 100,000 burned, bayoneted, bombed, shelled and shrapneled dead in the span of 28 days. Unborn babies ripped from their mothers’ wombs provided sport: thrown up in the air and caught, impaled on bayonet tips.
With rape on the streets and everywhere else, the Bayview Hotel became Manila’s rape center. After the dirty deed was done, nipples were sliced off, and bodies bayoneted open from the neck down.
William Manchester in his book “American Caesar,” wrote that “Once Rear Adm. Sanji Iwabuchi had decided to defend Manila, the atrocities began, and the longer the battle raged, the more the Japanese command structure deteriorated, until the uniforms of Nipponese sailors and marines were saturated with Filipino blood.
“The devastation of Manila was one of the great tragedies of World War II. Seventy percent of the utilities, 72 percent of the factories, 80 percent of the southern residential district, and 100 percent of the business district were razed…Hospitals were set afire after their patients had been strapped to their beds. The corpses of males were mutilated, females of all ages were raped before they were slain, and babies’ eyeballs gouged out and smeared on walls like jelly.”
From ‘Pearl’ to rubble
The envy of other Far Eastern cities before the war, lovely Manila, a melting pot of four cultures and the acknowledged Pearl of the Orient, turned completely to rubble and smoldering ash, wrack and ruin in the 28 days it gasped its last. Its face changed forever, national as well as city administrators since then have barely seen to its proper post-war urban planning and reconstruction, with the exception of a few government buildings rebuilt to their original states. (Zoning laws? What’s that?)
In dramatic foreshadowing, the Irish Columban priests at Malate Church got a taste of what was to come. An unknown volunteer worker at the Remedios Hospital wrote that on Dec. 22, 1944, “most beloved” Father Patrick Kelly and Father John Lalor, were taken away by enemy soldiers.
On Christmas, Dec. 25, 1944, the priests offered dinner for 200 poor folks. “We had to put up a brave front with smiles on our faces and lead in our heart.” The missing priests returned to Malate on Dec. 29 to great rejoicing, but they never talked about what strife they had undergone.
A timeline of bloody events as they unfolded helps to remind us that war is hell, through which Manila agonized.
Feb. 1, 1945: “Roll out the barrel, Santa Clause is coming,” is the note wrapped in goggles dropped by a plane to starving Allied countries’ civilians interned at the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
Feb. 3: American troops arriving from Lingayen liberate the 3,700 interns at UST. Japanese troops commence burning buildings and homes north of Pasig River.
Feb. 4: Japanese marines commanded by Rear Adm. Sanji Iwabuchi retreat to Intramuros, blowing up all the bridges across the Pasig.
Feb. 9: Ermita and Malate are put to the torch. Nicanor Reyes’ living room is piled high with furniture and drapes; gasoline is poured over them. The founder of Far Eastern University and some members of the family burn there after being bayoneted, but young daughter Lourdes who has hidden in a closet, and her wounded mother and aunt, flee to Leveriza to join her grandmother. Against a wall, the four set up a makeshift shelter with burned GI sheets. In the shelling, Lourdes’ mother who is shielding her, and her aunt, and grandmother, are killed.
Sen. Elpidio Quirino’s wife and two daughters, fleeing to his mother-in-law’s home, are felled by Japanese machine guns.
THE BATTLE of Manila left the city in total devastation and killed 100,000 Filipino civilians. Photo courtesy of Albert Montilla
Jesus Cabarrus Jr. has shrapnel embedded in his skull to constantly remind him of the terror-filled days in Ermita. Ordered by enemy troops to converge at nearby Plaza Ferguson, the men are separated from the women and children, and brought to Manila Hotel (where Jesus Sr. and other men become water boys, and where he saw Walter Loving, the Constabulary Band chief, stabbed to death).
Hotel turns into hell
Wives and children are ordered to Bayview Hotel where the only water is out of toilet water tanks, and females are wantonly raped. Amid screaming when the building … [Read more...]

Never Subdued Paperback by W. Franklin Hook (Author)
A true story about the Philippine-American War 1898-1902 and how it led to the Moro Campaigns against radical Islam 1902-1913 "[Never Subdued is] a tale of what it was like for a large number of young American men when they "went soljering" more than a century ago, in the steamy tropics of the Philippine Islands during the opening years of the 20th Century. What may surprise you is how uncannily alike "soljering" was then to that of their spiritual military heirs (perhaps including a few of their great and even great-great grandsons or granddaughters) in the cold mountain fastnesses of Afghanistan in the early 21st Century." "[The narrative conveys] the image of a bunch of ordinary young men who got caught up in the historical moment of America's first wars of the 20th Century, enlisted almost on a whim, and took part in an extraordinary adventure. It is as much a human story as a history lesson . . . It relates entirely to the present day." -Robert A. Fulton is the author of Moroland: The History of Uncle Sam and the Moros 1899-1920
Editorial Review From Kirkus Reviews
A history of a century-old war with frightening relevance to today's counterinsurgency campaigns.Islamic extremists, guerilla warfare, mountain firefights--Americans are painfully familiar with these things from the recent conflict in Afghanistan. But as Hook notes, the U.S. military faced similar challenges in the Philippines following the Spanish-American War. A retired doctor and reserve Army colonel, Hook spent a decade researching the Philippine-American War and the Moro Campaigns. After Spain ceded the islands to the U.S., American soldiers found themselves battling native Filipinos who previously were glad to see them. Emilio Aguinaldo and his revolutionaries wanted independence from foreign rule, but U.S. policymakers had other ideas. Drawing on soldier diaries, newspaper accounts and other sources, Hook presents a boots-on-the-ground narrative of the bloody insurgency that followed. American soldiers fought the elusive Filipinos while suffering under intense heat, relentless mosquitoes and rampant disease. Careful to note discrepancies and biases in his sources, Hook constructs a timeline that captures the tension as events teeter out of control. He also tries to explain the thinking on both sides, showing how policy blunders, duplicity and prejudice may have exacerbated the hostilities. A peace proclamation in 1902 officially ended the insurgency, but the U.S. still faced the problem of controlling the southern islands, which were predominantly Muslim. Combat with Moro fundamentalists featured brutalities similar to those seen in today's asymmetrical conflicts--hit-and-run attacks, personal jihad and heavy collateral damage on the civilian population. Throughout the book, a cast of colorful characters emerges as politics, war and personal ambition become intertwined. General Leonard Wood's hard-line approach to the Moros seems counterproductive, while John Pershing's more sensitive tactics would not look out of place in a modern Army counterinsurgency manual. Though the book lacks literary flair, it's a balanced look into the fog of war, where allies can become adversaries and the question "What did we accomplish?" is still open for debate.An often-forgotten conflict comes to life in this authentic account of heroism and atrocity, where the difference between rebel and patriot is which side of the line you stand on. … [Read more...]

The Ordeal of Samar. Schott, Joseph L. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964. Hardcover, 302 pages, b&w photographs, index. A chronicle of the Philippine insurrection against American troops immediately after the Spanish American War, and of the sensational court martial that changed history.
“The Balangiga massacre was an incident in 1901 in the town of the same name during the Philippine–American War. It initially referred to the killing of about 48 members of the US 9th Infantry by the townspeople allegedly augmented by guerrillas in the town of Balangiga on Samar Island during an attack on September 28 of that year. In the 1960s Filipino nationalists applied it to the retaliatory measures taken on the island. This incident was described as the United States Army's worst defeat since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Filipinos regard the attack as one of their bravest acts in the war.” - Wikipedia … [Read more...]

Book Review
IN-DEPTH AND INFORMATIVE
By Quintin L. Doroquez
Original article at : http://gugma.samarnews.net/articles/article8.htm
HANG THE DOGS: THE TRUE TRAGIC HISTORY OF THE BALANGIGA MASSACRE
BOB COUTTIE
New Day Publishers
Quezon City, Philippines
California Distributor:
Philippine Expressions
Mail Order Bookshop
$24.95 (paper, 462 pages)
Hang The Dogs: The True Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre is quite an intriguing title of a serious book. If the book, or any book for that matter on related title, were set in or were about the British Isles, where the author is originally from, it may outright invite distaste on sight from animal lovers of which Britons mostly are.
Hang the dogs -- that's quite a harsh “edict”, coming as it does from a third party (the author) if addressed to a particular party or group alone involved.
However, Bob Couttie's edict, if we call the title of his book on the Balangiga Incident as such, is an aphorism directed to the party that did something wrong, the party that should make amend. And in the Balangiga Incident both parties -- the Americans and the Filipinos, to varying degrees -- do need to make amend.
In war the two sides, combatants if you will, try to outwit or beat one another. Hence, one side tries to "hang" the other in order to prevail. Whichever side has the upper hand takes the other side as a bunch of dogs to be hung -- “massacred” -- as did (according to historical accounts) the natives of Balangiga on 28 September 1901, if that is the most possible way to achieve what one or the party involved had set out to accomplish. Even scorch and turn a big island into a howling wilderness, as did the Americans to the island of Samar, in the Philippines, in revenge after the Balangiga Incident.
The Balangiga Incident took place over a century ago. Therefore, the author’s imperative is now merely a gesture to catch a prospective reader's attention on a commodity in print -- a book.
But "hang", which apparently is the author's metaphor for what amounts to kill, destroy, rid, or devour a century ago in war, is all the same throughout the ages. It still is -- to varying degrees. If Bob Couttie were to write a book on the war in Iraq, one could fairly anticipate his title, Strip the Dogs Naked: The True Tragic Story Behind Misled Intelligence. Something of the sort. The facts then emerge. He will portray, with unassailable proof, as he did on Balangiga, that those stripping the dogs naked, whether in a prison or elsewhere in high places of government are themselves dogs, and more.
In Hang The Dogs the author actually turns out to be the one hanging the “canines”. He exposes, with unimpeachable evidence, the cravings of the Americans and the Filipinos to devour each other -- the Americans in their lust to create an empire, the Filipinos to resist and prevent being shamed. The “awod” (a local term for shame) factor was overriding among the Filipinos in Balangiga. Bob Couttie does not fail to point this out.
So much about the title.
Written largely in lean prose, the book is cool. Easy to read. It is the product of a ten-year assiduous research -- possibly the most exhaustive work on the Balangiga Incident thus far, and will remain so for sometime if ever surpassed. Yet still, ironically, at some point the author hedges for want of more facts that he stipulates must be somewhere in some repositories.
The book provides a reasonably adequate background of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, as it does of the history of the island of Samar itself where the town of Balangiga, the epicenter of the book, is located. Here and beyond, the author discusses the ferment that led a people to rise in rebellion. Adequately given this background, the author takes the reader quickly to the Philippine-American War.
Of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, of interest is the account -- for some reason largely unknown even to many in the Philippines who claim to have good college education -- about the death of Andres Bonifacio, the founder of the secret organization Katipunan that advocated armed struggle against Spain. The author leaves little doubt that Philippine history books -- which Philippine students studied (under ill-prepared so-called professors) in some allegedly reputable schools, particularly in the decades of the ‘60s through the mid ‘80s -- had the truth swept under the rug. That is of course the period largely of the Marcosian era. And whoever may dispute Bob Couttie’s facts only exposes her/his inadequacy or ignorance.
The author candidly discusses the sad event leading to the execution of the Katipunan’s “Supremo”, the title that the founder of the secret organization had chosen for himself. The next scenario becomes predictable, the emergence of Emilio Aguinaldo, Bonifacio’s rival who displayed considerable talent early in his military career, as an undisputed military and … [Read more...]

70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF MANILA by http://www.gov.ph
The battle for the liberation of Manila—waged from February 3 to March 3, 1945, between Philippine and American forces, and the Imperial Japanese forces—is widely considered to be one of the greatest tragedies of the Second World War. One hundred thousand men, women, and children perished. Architectural heritage was reduced to rubble—the City of Manila was the second most devastated Allied capital of World War II.
“The destruction of Manila was one of the greatest tragedies of World War II. Of Allied capitals in those war years, only Warsaw suffered more. Seventy percent of the utilities, 75 percent of the factories, 80 percent of the southern residential district, and 100 percent of the business district was razed.”
— William Manchester, author and historian, in American Caesar
“We remember them, nor shall we ever forget.”
— National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, on the lives taken during the Battle of Manila, in the inscription of the Memorare Manila 1945 Monument in Intramuros
Continue reading at: http://www.gov.ph/featured/battle-of-manila/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLIcUoXKTZ0KWXjXivC_RK5wwc084lZvsz&v=UdfxZrqvq1c … [Read more...]

http://youtu.be/NtR4UTFQOGM
A month after the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in the Philippines, the battle for Manila’s liberation finally met its conclusion. The wrath of war resulted to the deaths of 100,000 Filipino civilians and the destruction of stunning landmarks that once made Manila the Pearl of the Orient.
In 1995, a monument called the “Memorare-Manila 1945” was placed at Plazuela de Sta. Isabel in Intramuros to remember this dark chapter in country’s history. The inscription, which was penned by National Artist Nick Joaquin, says that “This memorial is dedicated to all those innocent victims of war, many of whom went nameless and unknown to a common grave, or never even knew a grave at all, their bodies having been consumed by fire or crushed to dust beneath the rubble of ruins.”
From: http://www.filipiknow.net/rare-historical-videos-philippines/
… [Read more...]

http://youtu.be/RzmE8H5wiC8
Battle of Manila (1945)
The month-long Battle of Manila in 1945 was one of the bloodiest moments of WWII, killing at least 100, 000 Filipino civilians who were either bombed or bayoneted–some were even burned alive.
It all started when the American forces led by Field Marshal Douglas MacArthur arrived in Manila in January 1945. Their initial goals were to liberate Allied civilians interned at UST as well as seize the Malacañan Palace, which they were able to achieve.
Threatened by the advancing American forces, the group under General Tomoyuki Yamashita withdrew to Baguio City. All hell broke loose when Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi refused to surrender and chose to defend the city until death.
Historical buildings and bridges were destroyed, Bayview Hotel served as a rape center, and entire row of houses were burned together with their occupants. Thousands of innocent Filipino civilians were killed using the most atrocious of methods–they were massacred with the help of machine guns, katanas, and bayonets.
In his book “American Caesar,” author William Manchester wrote that the “devastation of Manila was one of the great tragedies of World War II. Seventy percent of the utilities, 72 percent of the factories, 80 percent of the southern residential district, and 100 percent of the business district were razed…
Hospitals were set afire after their patients had been strapped to their beds. The corpses of males were mutilated, females of all ages were raped before they were slain, andbabies’ eyeballs gouged out and smeared on walls like jelly.”
From: http://www.filipiknow.net/rare-historical-videos-philippines/
… [Read more...]

The PBS Film: Crucible of Empire - The Spanish American War
One hundred years ago, United States celebrated victory in the Spanish-American War. Popular songs and headlines popularized Commodore Dewey's victories at sea and Theodore Roosevelt's ride up Kettle Hill. Although the Spanish-American War sparked unprecedented levels of patriotism and confidence, the defeat of the Spanish also raised new questions about the nation's role as a world power.
CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE: THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, narrated by award-winning actor Edward James Olmos, examines the colorful characters and historic events surrounding this 100-year-old war and its relevance to the twentieth century. When a declining Spain, beset by rebellion abroad, fell to American expansionism, the United States inherited her colonies and suddenly emerged as a world power. The experience and questions that the Spanish-American War raised about foreign intervention echo throughout the 20th century—as recent events in Kosovo show. Even in its own time, the war with Spain was understood as a turning point in American history.
As the twentieth century ends, it is instructive to note the complexities and significance of this very brief war that began this century. In the words of noted historian Walter LaFeber, "The 1898 war literally as well as chronologically ushered in the United States as a major shaper, soon the major shaper, of twentieth-century world politics and commerce." In the process, it also unified a nation still embittered by Civil War divisions; debuted the media in its role as catalyst of U.S. intervention; built up the navy and inspired a re-evaluation of the army; and vastly broadened the powers of the president in wartime and foreign affairs. Clearly, the Spanish-American War was more than the war that ended the nineteenth century; it was also the war that launched the American century.
Using original footage and period photographs, newspaper headlines, more than a dozen popular songs from the 1890s, and interviews with some of America's most prominent historians, CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE tells how issues of race, economy, technology, yellow journalism, and public opinion propelled America into this war. Four 1990s Senators bring to life the 1899 Senate debate on imperialism: Patrick Leahy (VT), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Paul Simon (IL), and Alan Simpson (WY). The film also features Larry Linville (Major Frank "Ferret Face" Burns of "M*A*S*H") as the voice of Rough Rider Theodore Roosevelt, Laurence Luckinbill as President William McKinley, and Lou Diamond Phillips as Philippine revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo.
Continue reading at: http://www.pbs.org/crucible/film.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g8NpQsmxj4
http://youtu.be/8g8NpQsmxj4 … [Read more...]

Some of the Combat, Massacres, Rebellions, Disputes And Calamities of the Philippine Islands.
according to the Book_
The Inhabitants of the Philippines
By
Frederic H. Sawyer
Memb. Inst. C.E., Memb. Inst. N.A.
London
Sampson Low, Marston and Company Limited
St. Dunstan’s House
Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.
1900
Some of the Combat, Massacres, Rebellions, Disputes And Calamities of the Philippine Islands.
1521.
Magellan and several of his followers killed in action by the natives of Mactan, near Cebú; Juan Serrano and many other Spaniards treacherously killed by Hamabar, King of Cebú.
1525.
Salazar fights the Portuguese off Mindanao, and suffers great losses in ships and men.
1568.
Legaspi’s expedition attacked in Cebú by a Portuguese fleet, which was repulsed.
1570.
Legaspi founds the city of Cebú, with the assistance of the Augustinians.
1571.
Legaspi founds the city of Manila, with the assistance of the Augustinians.
1572.
Juan Salcedo fights the Datto of Zambales, and delivers his subjects from oppression.
1574.
Siege of Manila by the Chinese pirate Li-ma-hon with 95 small vessels and 2000 men. The Spaniards and natives repulse the attack. The pirates retire to Pangasinan, and are attacked and destroyed by Juan Salcedo.
1577.
War against Mindanao and Joló, parts of which are occupied. Disputes between the missionaries and the military officers who desire to enrich themselves by enslaving the natives, which the former stoutly oppose, desiring to convert them, and grant them exemption from taxes according to the “Leyes de Indias.” They considered the cupidity of the soldiers as the chief obstacle to the conversion of the heathen. The Crown decided in favour of the natives, but they did not derive all the benefits they were entitled to, as the humane laws were not respected by the governors.
The Franciscans arrived in Manila.
1580.
Expedition sent by Gonzalo Ronquillo to Borneo to assist King Sirela.
1581.
Expedition sent by the same to Cagayan to expel a Japanese corsair who had established himself there. The expedition succeeded, but with heavy loss.
Expedition against the Igorrotes to get possession of the gold-mines, but without success.
The Jesuits arrive in Manila.
1582.
Expedition against the Molucas, under Sebastian Ronquillo.[390]An epidemic destroyed two-thirds of the expedition, which returned without accomplishing anything.
Great disputes between the encomenderos and the friars in consequence of the ill-treatment of the natives by the former. Dissensions between the Bishop of Manila and the friars who refused to submit to his diocesan visit.
Manila burnt down.
1584.
Second expedition against the Molucas, with no better luck than the first.
Rebellion of the Pampangos and Manila men, assisted by some Mahometans from Borneo. Combat between the English pirate, Thomas Schadesh, and Spanish vessels.
Combat between the English adventurer Thomas Cavendish (afterwards Sir Thomas), and Spanish vessels.
1587.
The Dominicans arrive in Manila.
1589.
Rebellion in Cagayan and other provinces.
1593.
Third expedition against the Molucas under Gomez Perez Dasmariñias. He had with him in his galley 80 Spaniards and 250 Chinese galley-slaves. In consequence of contrary winds, his vessel put into a port near Batangas for shelter. In the silence of the night, when the Spaniards were asleep, the galley-slaves arose and killed them all except a Franciscan friar and a secretary. Dasmariñias built the castle of Santiago, and fortified Manila with stone walls, cast a large number of guns, and established the college of Sta. Potenciana.
1596.
The galleon which left Manila for Acapulco with rich merchandise, was obliged to enter a Japanese port by stress of weather, and was seized by the Japanese authorities. The crew were barbarously put to death.
1597.
Expedition of Luis Perez Dasmariñias against Cambodia, which gained no advantage.
1598.
The Audiencia re-established in Manila, and the bishopric raised to an archbishopric.
Expedition against Mindanao and Joló, the people from which were committing great devastations in Visayas, taking hundreds of captives.
Much fighting, and many killed on both sides, without any definite result.
1599.
Destructive earthquake in Manila and neighbourhood.
1600.
Great sea combat between four Spanish ships, commanded by Judge Morga, and two Dutch pirates. One of the Dutchmen was taken, but the other escaped.
Another destructive earthquake on January 7th, and one less violent, but long, in November.
1603.
Conspiracy of Eng-Cang and the Chinese against the Spaniards. The Chinese entrench themselves near Manila; Luis Perez Dasmariñias marches against them with 130 Spaniards. They were all killed and decapitated by the … [Read more...]

True Version of the Philippine Revolution
By
Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy
President of the Philippine Republic.
Tarlak (Philippine Islands),
23rd September, 1899
To All Civilized Nations and Especially to the Great North American Republic
I dedicate to you this modest work with a view to informing you respecting the international events which have occurred during the past three years and are still going on in the Philippines, in order that you may be fully acquainted with the facts and be thereby placed in a position to pronounce judgment upon the issue and be satisfied and assured of the Justice which forms the basis and is in fact the foundation of our Cause. I place the simple truth respectfully before and dedicate it to you as an act of homage and as testimony of my admiration for and recognition of the wide knowledge, the brilliant achievements and the great power of other nations, whom I salute, in the name the Philippine nation, with every effusion of my soul.
The Author.
Page 1
The Revolution of 1896
Spain maintained control of the Philippine Islands for more than three centuries and a half, during which period the tyranny, misconduct and abuses of the Friars and the Civil and Military Administration exhausted the patience of the natives and caused them to make a desperate effort to shake off the unbearable galling yoke on the 26th and 31st August, 1896, then commencing the revolution in the provinces of Manila and Cavite.
On these memorable days the people of Balintawak, Santa Mesa, Kalookan, Kawit, Noveleta and San Francisco de Malabon rose against the Spaniards and proclaimed the Independence of the Philippines, and in the course of the next five days these uprisings were followed by the inhabitants of the other towns in Cavite province joining in the revolt against the Spanish Government although there was no previous arrangement looking to a general revolt. The latter were undoubtedly moved to action by the noble example of the former.Page 2
With regard to the rising in the province of Cavite it should be stated that although a call to arms bearing the signatures of Don Augustin Rieta, Don Candido Firona and myself, who were Lieutenants of the Revolutionary Forces, was circulated there was no certainty about the orders being obeyed, or even received by the people, for it happened that one copy of the orders fell into the hands of a Spaniard named Don Fernando Parga, Military Governor of the province, who at that time was exercising the functions of Civil Governor, who promptly reported its contents to the Captain-General of the Philippines, Don Ramon Blanco y Erenas. The latter at once issued orders for the Spanish troops to attack the revolutionary forces.
It would appear beyond doubt that One whom eye of man hath not seen in his wisdom and mercy ordained that the emancipation of the oppressed people of the Philippines should be undertaken at this time, for otherwise it is inexplicable how men armed only with sticks andgulok1 wholly unorganized and undisciplined, could defeat the Spanish Regulars in severe engagements at Bakoor, Imus and Noveleta and, in addition to making many of them prisoners, captured a large quantity of arms and ammunition. It was owing to this astonishing success of the revolutionary troops that General Blanco quickly concluded to endeavour, to maintain Spanish control by the adoption of a Page 3conciliatory policy under the pretext that thereby he could quel the rebellion, his first act being a declaration to the effect that it was not the purpose of his Government to oppress the people and he had no desire “to slaughter the Filipinos.”.
The Government of Madrid disapproved of General Blanco's new policy and speedily appointed Lieutenant-General Don Camilo Polavieja to supersede him, and despatched forthwith a large number of Regulars to the Philippines.
General Polavieja advanced against the revolutionary forces with 16,000 men armed with Mausers, and one field battery. He had scarcely reconquered half of Cavite province when he resigned, owing to bad health. That was in April, 1897.
Polavieja was succeeded by the veteran General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera, who had seen much active service. As soon as Rivera had taken over command of the Forces he personally led his army in the assault upon and pursuit of the revolutionary forces, and so firmly, as well as humanely, was the campaign conducted that he soon reconquered the whole of Cavite province and drove the insurgents into the mountains.
Then I established my headquarters in the wild and unexplored mountain fastness of Biak-na-bató, where I formed the Republican Government of the Philippines at the end of May, 1897.Page 4
1 A kind of sword—Translator.
The Treaty of Biak-na-bató
Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno (who was appointed by the Spanish Governor-General sole mediator in the discussion of the terms of peace) visited Biak-na-bató several times to negotiate terms of … [Read more...]

Philippine American War - Advance of Kansas Volunteers at Caloocan by Thomas A. Edison; 5 June 1899
From LibraryOfCongress, Washinton D.C.
Comment by Mandirigma.org: At the time of this production, film was a brand new medium. This Film by Thomas Edison shows Filipino Freedom Fighters defending their country against American Invaders. However the director portrays the Filipinos as "Rebels" and the Americans as defenders of "Freedom" and "Liberty" who overcome the "Insurgents".
http://youtu.be/_ZjrPU6rPHE
SUMMARY
From Edison films catalog: From the thick underbrush where the Filipinos are massed comes volley after volley. They are making one of those determined stands that marks Caloocan as the bloodiest battle of the Filipino rebellion. Suddenly, with impetuous rush, Funston's men appear. They pause but for a moment, to fire, reload and fire. The color bearer falls, but the standard is caught up by brave Sergeant Squires and waves undaunted in the smoke and din of the receding battle. This is one of the best battle pictures ever made. The first firing is done directly toward the front of the picture, and the advance of the U.S. troops apparently through the screen is very exciting; the gradual disappearance of the fighters sustaining the interest to the end. 65 feet. $9.75.
NOTES
Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 5June1899; 37443.
Original main title lacking.
Reenacted by the New Jersey National Guard.
Materials listed originate from the paper print chosen best copy of two for digitization; for other holdings on this title, contact M/B/RS reference staff.
Edison code name (for telegraphic orders): Unbroached.
MAVIS 47087; Advance of Kansas Volunteers at Caloocan.
Reenacted May 1899 in the Orange Mountains near West Orange, New Jersey.
Sources used: Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1894-1912; Musser, C. Edison motion pictures 1890-1900, 1997; Niver, K.R. Early motion pictures, 1985; Edison films catalog, no. 94, March 1900, p. 4 [MI]; Edison films catalog, no. 105, July 1901, p. 30 [MI].
SUBJECTS
United States.--Army.--Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 20th.
Philippines--History--Philippine American War, 1899-1902--Battlefields.
Battles--Philippines.
Soldiers.
Revolutionaries--Philippines.
Funston, Frederick,--1865-1917--Military leadership.
Battle casualties--Philippines.
Flags--United States.
War films.
Historical reenactments (Motion pictures)
Short films.
Silent films.
Nonfiction films.
RELATED NAMES
White, James H. (James Henry), production.
New Jersey. National Guard.
Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
CALL NUMBER
FEC 2820 (ref print)
FPE 9628 (dupe neg)
FPE 9135 (masterpos)
LC 973a (paper pos)
DIGITAL ID
sawmp 0973 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/sawmp.0973
… [Read more...]

Emilio Aguinaldo filmed with actor Douglas Fairbanks, Philippines, 1931
http://youtu.be/QJyqxWhQ38o
In 1931 Douglas Fairbanks went on a trip to Asia, and made a comic travelogue entitled "Around the World in 80 Minutes". The clip from the Philippines included a short speech in Spanish by Emilio Aguinaldo.
Fairbanks was a movie producer and actor in silent films. He co-founded the American film studio United Artists and hosted the first Oscars Ceremony in 1929.
La calidad del audio deja mucho que desear, pero me parece que el Sr. Aguinaldo dijo:
"Os participo de que he dado la bienvenida a nuestro gran actor (?Douglas Fairbanks) de America. Por la misma razón espero que esta visita que nos ha dignado dicho gran actor,(???), estrechará más la armonía entre americanos y filipinos"
Una traducción literal: I have given welcome to our great actor, Douglas Fairbanks, from America. For the same reason, I hope that this visit by this great actor, who has humbled himself to us, will develop greater harmony between Americans and Filipinos.
… [Read more...]

Color Photos Of America's New Possessions by F. Tennyson Neely (1899)
Collection of color photographs of the Spanish - American War military actions in the Philippines.
Many of these photographs are not found in any other books!
Read it online at The Library of Congress .
http://www.archive.org/stream/neelyscolorphoto00newy#page/n0/mode/2up
http://www.archive.org/details/neelyscolorphoto00newy
… [Read more...]

Illustrated with Photogravure, Colored Plates, Engravings and Maps
Richly illustrated with 166 RARE vintage photographs and illustrations from the early 1900's ! You will take a journey with the author G. Waldo Browne and view many historical, cultural, and incredible photographs of a time forgotten. Writing about his travels, G. Waldo Browne gave his readers detailed stories and interesting information about the local history, myths, and facts of the countries he visited so that every American could get a glimpse, first hand of the worlds beyond our shores.
Contents
The Philippine Islands, By Maj.-Gen. Joseph Wheeler
Japan, By Kogoro Takahira
The Philippines
The Pearls Of The Orient
The People Of The Philippines
The Animal Kingdom
Spanish Discovery And Dominion
Rivalry Of Church And State
Colonial Wars
Resources And Commerce
Most Noted Towns
Struggles For Liberty
America In The Orient
Japan
The Land Of The Gods
The Gateway Of The Orient
First Glimpses
The Imperial Roads
The Modern Capital
Customs And Costumes
City And Country
Full Page Engravings
Courtyard To Chinese Temple
Suspension Bridge Connecting Old And New Manila
Water Front At Manila
Native Milk Peddlers In The Suburbs Of Manila
Santa Cruz Plaza, Manila
Native Theatre, Taguig
General Otis And Staff At The Governor’s Palace, Manila
Rainy Season In The Eremita District
Hawaiian Flowers, Coloured
Principal Gateway, Old Manila
Hawaiian Flowers. Coloured
Manila Fire Department
Group Of Insurgents, Taken Prisoners
Cigar Factory, Manila
A Company Of Insurgents
Graves Of The Astor Battery
Headquarters, Pasig
Hawaiian Flowers. Coloured
Three Little Maids. Coloured
Fujiyama From Maeda Village, Tokaido
Peony Garden, Kanazawa
The Beautiful Iris
Bluff Garden, Yokohai
Chrysanthemums
Walking Costume Coloured
Tea-House Garden, Oji, Tokio
A Typical Japanese Lady
Planting Rice
Kirifuri Cascade, Nikko
Coloured Maps
The Philippines
Japan
Illustrations
The Philippines
Landscape On East Side Of Mindanao
Mail Station On Bay Of Ulugan
Volcano Of Apo
Volcano Of Mayon, Luzon
Looking Up Pasig River At Pretil Just Above Manila
Native Village, Island Of Negros
Bamboo Bridge, Iloilo
Construction Of A Philippino House
Bamboo Yard
Native Houses
Village On Mindanao
General View Of Iloilo
Manila Street, Rainy Season
Manila Street, Rainy Season
Types Of Malays
Negritos
Native Warrior From Interior Of Mindanao
Philippino Fruit Girl
A Wealthy Half-Caste Philippino Lady
Mestizos
Sulu Prau
Sultan Of Sulu Interviewing
European Visitors
Mohammed, Sultan Of Sulu
Igorrotes
Igorrote Pipes
Carabaos Transporting Army Stores
Village On The Island Of Guimaras
Street-Cars In Manila
Young Wild Goat
Calao Bird
Peacock
Village On Mindanao
River Scene On Mindanao
Mindanao Warrior
Merchant Vessels, Pasig River
Mouth Of River Coihulo, Palawan
Village Of Bahele, Palawan
Oldest Church In Manila
Arsenal At Puerto Princessa, Palawan
Drawbridge And Gate Of Old City
Old Cannon On Sea-Wall At Manila
River Scene Near Iloilo
Spanish Priest
Ancient Gate At Manila
A Tagalo Bungalow In Luzon
Philippino Girl
Church And Square At Malolos
Old Stone Bridge Near Manila
Manila Street, Rainy Season
Manila Street, Rainy Season
The Native Market At Manila
On The Wall Of The Old City Of Manila
Native Boats On Pasig Above Bridge Of Spain
Rita Island, Bay Of Ulugan
Cavite Arsenal And Shipyard
Bathing Place At Manila
A Tagalo Family Out For A Drive In A Caretela
Travel In Rainy Season
Volcano Of Apo
Scene In Bulacan
Plantation On Mindanao
Scene At Puerto Princessa, Palawan
Cigar Dealer
Street In Old Manila
Train On Manila And Dagupin Railway
Manila And Dagupin Railway Station
Governor’s Palace, Manila
Village In The Suburbs Of Manila
Street In Business Section Of Manila
Fountain On Promenade San Miguel, Manila
Cavite Arsenal
Social Entertainment Under Spanish Regime
Schoolhouse
Village Of Olas Pinas, On Outskirts Of Manila
Dagaupan, Rio Horno
Sulu Woman
A Native Of Malabon And His Family
Emilio Aguinaldo, Leader Of Insurrection Of 1899
Cannon Used By Insurgents In 1899
Mountain Cataract
Sentry Post On The Luneta Road
Scene In Suburbs Of Manila
Aguinaldo’s Family And Relatives
Admiral George Dewey
U. S. S. Olympia
U. S. S. Baltimore
The Battle Of Manila Bay
Major-General Wesley Merritt
Group Of Officers, Leaders Of Insurrection, 1899
General Augusti
Islets Of Calamianes Group, Between Mindoro And Palawan
General Otis
F. Agoncillo, Envoy Of Insurgents
Plaza Alfonso XII., Iloilo
Mountain Inn, Luzon
Exterior Of Insurgents Capitol At Malolos, 1899
Mushroom Islands
Waterfall And Rapids On Taygula River, Mindanao
Boar
Japan
Greeting
Scenery Among The Pine Islands
Fujiyama
A Farmer
Yokohama Harbour
A Junk
Street On Water-Front, Yokohama
Lotus Lake, Myeno
Double Bridge In Imperial … [Read more...]

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Mandirigma Research Organization/Mandirigma.org, a project of Kapisanang Mandirigma, is a research organization dedicated to cultural research. Their focus includes preserving and promoting the Warrior Arts of the Philippines commonly known as Kali, Eskrima and Arnis. The Warrior Arts is one of the most important aspects of any society because its very nature is to defend […]

Kali Klub Kali Klub, an award-winning project of Kapisanang Mandirigma, initially started as a positive diversion against drugs and gangs for youths in the Temple-Beverly corridor, now known as Historic Filipinotown. It is; a collaboration with several non- profit agencies in the area such as FilAm Arts, SIPA and PWC. Now entering their 9th year, […]

Lameco Eskrima is the system of Filipino martial arts founded by the late Punong Guro Edgar Sulite based on his training and experience with various Philippine Martial Arts masters, with heavy influence from Jose Caballero and Antonio Ilustrisimo. The word Lameco is actually a combination of words which are the three basic ranges of combat […]